Seven Key Takeaways from the Real Estate Assessor’s Annual Report

The City Real Estate Assessor presented an overview of the projected FY 2026 assessments to City Council on Feb. 25.

By law, the City must assess all properties annually by the end of January. This is important because real estate taxes account for about 30% of Virginia Beach’s annual General Fund revenue which pays for critical services such as public education, fire and police protection, roads and more.

At the City’s current tax rate of $0.97 per $100 of assessed value, the projected $86.9 billion in total assessed real estate for FY 2026 will generate $842 million in tax revenue (each penny of the real estate tax rate generates about $8.7 million).

Here are seven facts residents should know:

Real estate assessments are up, but not as much as they have been in recent years.

Since 2022, property values in Virginia Beach have been on the rise. Following steady growth of about 3-4% a year for fiscal years 2020-2022, property owners saw a sharp increase in assessed value in FY 2023 and FY 2024 — 9.2% and 9.7% respectively. In fiscal year 2025, that figure dropped to 7.7% and FY 2026 will continue the downward trend at 5.6%.

The residential median assessment also increased to $365,300.

For fiscal 2026, this was an increase of about $17,600 over the previous year — the smallest increase since fiscal 2022. In FY 2025, the median residential assessment increased $21,000, it increased $29,000 in FY 2024, and in FY 2023, it increased $30,000.

The median home assessment has steadily increased since FY18. That year, it was $236,900. The projected median assessment for FY26 is $365,300 — a difference of $128,400 over eight years.

City Council reduced the real estate tax rate from $0.99 per $100 of assessed value to $0.97 in 2024.

Had the rate remained at $0.99, taxes for a median-priced home would’ve been about $73 more. The rate in Virginia Beach is the lowest of the region’s seven cities. Chesapeake’s rate is currently the next lowest at $1.01 per $100 of assessed value.

Most new housing units built were apartments.

A total of 1,221 new housing units were built in 2024. This is an increase of 236 over the 985 built in 2023 and represents a return to pre-COVID levels (1,109 units in 2019 and 1,233 units in 2020). The vast majority of new residential units built last year were apartments — 955. The remainder consisted of 161 single-family homes, 97 condominiums and 8 duplexes.

Average assessment of a new home (single-family or duplex) is the highest it has been in recent years.

The median assessment of new homes is $903,000 and homes valued at more than $1 million represent the largest percentage of all new residential properties built (69 of 266 or 25.9%) in 2024.

The average new home assessment is the highest reported in recent years with a median of $903,000. Homes valued at over $1 million represent the largest percentage of all new residential properties built (25.9%) in 2024.

Tax relief is available to qualifying residents.

Programs are available for:

Disabled veterans
Energy efficient buildings
Historic landmarks or historically significant structures
Rehabilitated commercial or industrial structures
Senior citizens
Disabled individuals (non-military)
Agricultural, horticultural forest and open-space lands

Programs for disabled veterans, senior citizens and disabled individuals (non-military) are managed by the Commissioner of the Revenue. Details are available online under the relief and incentives section of the Real Estate Assessor’s website.

Have questions about your assessment? You can appeal it.

Assessments will be mailed to residents by March 1. If you have questions about your property, you are encouraged to contact the Real Estate Assessor's Office. Hearings to review assessments are heard from March through April 30.

To review information about your property, visit the City’s property search tool and look up assessment details using your address.

More information about how properties are assessed and the appeals process, including the necessary forms, are available at Assessor.VirginiaBeach.gov.

Next Steps in the FY 2025-26 Budget Process

March: The VBCPS budget request is approved by the School Board in March, and the city manager presents the combined proposed operating budget of both the City and VBCPS to City Council on March 25. The proposed budget is available for the residents to view at public libraries, City Hall and online at budget.virginiabeach.gov.

April:  City Council hears from individual department heads on their departmental budgets. Two public hearings provide residents an opportunity to comment on the proposed budget.

May: The reconciliation workshop is a week before the state-mandated deadline of May 15 for the budget to be adopted. This workshop is for the City Council to finalize the budget. This year the budget is scheduled to be adopted on May 13, 2025.

Learn more by visiting budget.virginiabeach.gov. Watch the City Council meetings and be prepared to provide your input on the proposed budget in April. Subscribe now to get updates on the City’s budget process and how you can provide your input before major decisions are made.